


Grilled Cheese and Construction

by artbyweb86



Series: Cooking with Bobby [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Chris is a better cook, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Construction, Cooking Lessons, Cooking with Bobby, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Meal Time, M/M, Michael puts the boys to work, Nothing serious, Protective Evan "Buck" Buckley, casual banter, grilled cheese sandwiches, slight Eddie whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artbyweb86/pseuds/artbyweb86
Summary: Bobby teaches Christopher how to make his famous grilled cheese sandwiches. Buck and Eddie help Michael rebuild the fireplace.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan “Buck” Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Cooking with Bobby [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820869
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

“I can’t believe Bobby roped us into helping.”

Eddie, Buck and Christopher were in the car on the way to Bobby’s house.

“Buck! Stop complaining. Bobby is gonna teach Chris how to make his famous grilled cheese sandwiches. And we are gonna help Michael with the fireplace.” Eddie said while concentrating on the road.

“Dad! You have to protect Buck though, make sure he follows all of Michael’s orders.”

“Ouch, buddy. Your words wound me. So little faith.”

Buck held a hand over his heart and feigned injury, earning a giggle from the back seat. That earned him a light smack to the arm by Eddie.

“Bobby should be the one to help him. They both destroyed it in the first place.”

“It’s my punishment for destroying his best cooking pot last month. I am simply dragging you along for the ride. And we get to eat something afterwards.”

“Yeah! Made by me!”

“And it will be the best buddy! Fingers crossed that nothing will get burned.”

“Stop ganging up on me! I know I am a terrible cook. Buck, you said you would be teaching me how to do better. I am not better.”

“You’ll get there. That’s why were are still on breakfast. And simple stuff. It took me almost a year before Bobby even let me do anything else.”

“Well, I don’t feel like I am making any progress. I don’t know how I made it this far.”

He felt Buck’s hand on his arm. He snuck a quick glance. Buck just smiled.

“You have me now. And we will make sweet, sweet food together.”

He just rolled his eyes at that.

Putting on his blinker, he pulled off the road and made it up Bobby’s driveway.

Chris was bouncing in his seat before he even put it in park.

Buck laughed and hopped out. He opened Chris’s door and got him out of his seat, gently placing him onto the ground, telling him to wait while he fished his crutches out as well.

His heart always swelled when Buck took action on helping Chris.

He had trouble letting go and giving responsibility to another person at first. But this was Buck. He always knew how to help.

He caught himself staring, and didn’t even realize that they had reached the front door and he was standing at the car like a zombie. He moved to the trunk and grabbed the new pot he had promised to buy, after he ruined the one on a previous meal making excursion.

Bobby greeted them at the door.

Michael was standing in the hall by the fireplace, in old clothes. Surrounded by materials.

“Hey, Cap. I brought you the new pot. It took forever to ship. I don’t know what the issue was. But I made sure to get the top of the line. Only the best, for the best.”

“Thank you Eddie. It looks great. I think Michael wants get started right away. Listen to everything he says and keep an eye out for Buck. I don’t want any injuries in this house today. Clear?”

“You got it, Cap!”


	2. Chapter 2

He watched as Bobby guided Chris towards the kitchen and lifted him so he was sitting on a chair in front of the island.

He felt a nudge of his shoulder.

Buck was watching him too, brows down in worry.

Michael sighed, and cleared his throat, trying to catch their attention.

“Guys, I need you focused here. We can’t have any distractions right now. Chris will be fine. He has Bobby. You can trust he will take good care of your boy.”

“I know, I always worry though.”

“I know. It’s tough. But you gotta let the reigns loosen a little.”

Eddie just nodded. He stared a little longer, watching as Chris giggled as Bobby was showing him the different cooking utensils they would be working with.

“Alright, I have the layout of what we are going to be using. I have these bricks, and the cement. It will go all the way up, and we will also install a wood mantle.”

Buck was looking at the paper intently. He raised his hand.

Michael chuckled. “Yes, Buck?”

“Umm…why is the fireplace in the middle of the house? Aren’t they usually, like, to the side. We can’t move it? Have more of an open concept.”

Eddie elbowed him in the side and hissed, “Buck! Don’t be rude. He is…”

“I wasn’t being rude. It was just a question.”

He glanced at Michael, who was frowning.

“I’ll have you know, Buck, that I built this house. I am an architect after all, and this style was very popular. And it still is. Plus, Athena would kill me for destroying the house. Maybe you for suggesting such a thing.”

“Oh, she really would. Buck, no more tips, please? Just follow his instructions.” Bobby shouted from the kitchen. Followed by Chris. “Yeah!”

Buck was wide eyed, and swallowed thickly. “Sorry, Michael.”

Michael glared at him for a few more seconds, before breaking into a smile and just shaking his head.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.” He caught Eddie’s eye, who just smirked and dipped his head in agreement.

“Thanks for letting us help you Michael.”

“Hey, no problem, Eddie. I feel like we don’t get to do much together. We see each at party functions, but we are all busy running after kids or whatnot. So it’s nice to see you to outside of that.”

He was mixing the cement, while he had instructed Buck to move the first set of bricks, nearby so they could be easily and quickly put in place.

“Where is Grant? He couldn’t help today?” Buck asked, a bit red faced from lifting the heavy bricks. They were bigger too, so he had to be careful.

“He would, but he has a surgery in the morning. He can’t risk his hands. You know?”

“Oh, wow. Right.”

“But I would like for you guys to officially meet him. How does a double date sound? Once our schedules line up?”

They both nodded in agreement. They started getting to work. The first layer already taking shape. The new color Athena had picked out, really standing out. White and Grey marble style.

They took a small break, while Michael was mixing more cement and Buck was bringing in more bricks.

He glanced into the kitchen, to see Chris putting together a salad in a large bowl. Chris sensed his father and smiled wide. He help up a piece of the salad.

“Hey, Dad! Have you tried this lettuce before? It’s really good. Oh, Bobby says it’s called arugula. And he has a spicy kind. Dad, you would really like it!” And stuffed in into his mouth. Bobby was beaming next to him.

“Oh, wow buddy. I'll have to try it later. Looks like you are doing great work!”

He ducked down to help Buck, arrange the bigger pieces.

“I could never get him to eat anything green before. Lettuce, maybe a little, but with broccoli, oh boy, that was a fight to no end!”

“He likes it when I make it.” Buck says with a smirk.

“Don’t gloat! You add cheese and mayo and mustard and do something else and then bake it. Even though he may gain a million pounds, he will still eat anything you make!”

“Don’t be jealous, Eds. It’s another Bobby recipe. Just add it to the win column. Our boy is growing up.”

“Yeah, yeah. He really is. I hate it!”

Buck, just places a hand on his face, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

They turn when they hear Michael clear his throat, again. He is smiling this time.

“You guys are too cute. Already acting like a married couple, and not even married yet.”

They both smile, cheeks burning.

“OK, can you focus now? I know your kid is trying to distract you, but save all the compliments and praise for later. It’s focus time.” He clapped his hands.

Bobby came over, drying his hands on a towel.

“How are the boys over here doing, Michael?”

“Oh, just fine. We had a moment of distraction, but they are focused.”

“Good. Buck, be careful. Please. I don’t want any more trips to the hospital.”

“You got it, Bobby! I am laser focused! You don’t have to worry.”

Bobby nodded. Eyes meeting both Eddie’s and Michael’s. They nodded in understanding.

He smiled and walked back to Chris in the kitchen who was now cutting some homemade bread into roll size, using the string method.

“Chris, you having fun?”

“Yes, sir!”


	3. Chapter 3

“Alright Chris, we are going to make a simple salad.”

Chris made a grossed out face. “I don’t like salad.”

“Well, you might like this. You like spicy food right?”

“Yeah! Abuela make some dishes really spicy. Sometime I can handle it better than Daddy can.”

A voice appeared from the other room. “I heard that!”

“Well, this is a spicy green leaf. Here, give it a try.”

Chris bit into it, at first made a face like he was going to spit it out, but after chewing it for a second, the spice kicked in and his face lit up.

“Ohh…this is good. I didn’t know lettuce could be like that.”

“I thought you would. We are only going to drizzle some olive oil on it and if anyone one like onions, we will put that on the side too.”

“Hey, Dad! Have you tried this lettuce before? It’s really good. Oh, Bobby says it’s called arugula. And he has a spicy kind. Dad, you would really like it!”

Bobby smiled brightly as Eddie peeked around the corner, eyes wide as Chris stuffed another piece into his mouth.

Eddie ducked back behind the fireplace, where he heard something about broccoli.

Snorting, he turned back to the refrigerator and pulled out his already made dough. He would have Chris divide them to make the individual loaves. Once fresh, he will add the cheese and use the skillet to make the grilled cheese sandwiches.

He handed Chris a metal string and placed the bowl of dough in front of him. He also grabbed some flour.

“Alright Chris, we are going to make our sandwich bread first. If you can grab some flour and spread it onto the counter. Yup, just like that.”

Chris was smiling happily as he grabbed a few handfuls of flour and spread it around in a circle as Bobby said to do.

Bobby grabbed a big glob of dough and let it plop onto the counter.

“Ok, so now. I want you to kneed the dough. Which means you grab this top part, bring it to the bottom and push with the heal of you hand and do that a few more times, until it gets a nice shape.”

“This is fun!”

“Ok, now I am going to give you this tool. It has the small wood handles and a metal string. You see? It won’t hurt you, but you still have to be careful.”

“Can you show me the first one? I learn better with seeing it first.”

“Of course! So you pick up the dough and we don’t want the piece to be huge, bring the string under, grab the two ends, pull one side away from you, another towards you, like you are tying a knot, and you sliced your first piece. You think you can do that?”

“Yeah! That looks easy. Stay with me? I might need help.”

So they set to work. They were able to make about 10 small loaves.

“Hey Chris? You want the fun part of greasing the baking sheet?”

Chris nodded.

“Ok, so grab this spray and while I hold the baking sheet, give it a few good sprays. Good! And use this paper towel to spread it evenly, so the bread won’t stick. We wouldn’t want to ruin any of these delicious rolls.”

“No way!”

They then put the dough loaves on baking sheets. Bobby had already preheated the oven so he stuck them in and set the timer.

“Ok, next we are gonna grate the cheese. Have you used a grater before?”

“No, what does it do?”

“It slices the cheese into tiny pieces. We could do bigger slices, but I find that the smaller pieces, the better it melts.”

He took out the variety of cheeses that he was going to mix in, and opening one, he first showed Chris how to do it.

Chris nodded and started working on the first cheese.

“Just make sure you go slowly and keep your fingers away from the metal part. We don’t want to have sliced Chris in our food.”

“Ewww, gross. No.”

As Chris was working diligently, there was a pained shout from the living room.

“Mierda!”

“Uh oh. Dad said a bad word. That can’t be good.”

“I’ll go check on him. You ok here? I won’t be long. And like I said be careful. Move slowly and fingers away from the edges.”

Bobby sighed. So much for an injury free day.

He rounded the corner to see worry on Michael face. Buck was rubbing Eddie’s back who was hunched slightly, nursing his hand.

“Eddie? What happened?”

He was breathing heavily. “I was lifting a couple bricks and one started to fall off the top, I brought them closer the ground, stuck my hand out to cushion the fall, and it landed right on my finger. I may loose this fingernail.”

He uncovered his hand and his pointer finger looked red, and the nail already looked bruised.

Bobby and Buck winced. 

Michael looked a bit pale. “How about we take a small break? I would probably ice that.”

Eddie nodded moving to the kitchen to grab an ice pack and check in with Chris, who was diligently grating the cheese.

Bobby just smiled as he watched Eddie swipe a few slices of cheese and then offered some to Chris too.

“But only a little Dad! We have to save it. And you don’t want to ruin your appetite. Aren’t you always telling me that?”

“Uh oh. When did my son get smarter than me?”

Chris giggled when Buck swooped in for a few pieces, ignoring Chris’s protests.

“I think Chris is smarter than all of us combined.” Buck stated, beaming at Chris.

The other men nodded in agreement.

“Michael, the fireplace is looking great already.”

“Thank Bobby. We should be able to get the majority of it done today. I need to finish the shelf, but that gets put in once everything dries. Buck? Eddie? You ready to get this moving?”

The boys nodded, Buck scruffling up Chris’s hair before heading back.

The timer on the oven sounded and Bobby opened it to reveal perfectly golden loaves.

He pulled it out to show Chris, who smiled in delight.

“Do we get to make the grilled cheese sandwiches now?”

“Not yet. These need to cool a little bit. And you need to finish the cheese. Athena and the kids will be back soon. They will be joining us for this meal. So its best when its fresh.”

“Yeah!”

The kitchen and living room was busy with movement and small talk.

Athena walked in the house to the smell of the bread baking and the noise of the three men working together to complete the fireplace. May and Harry came in after and stopped to watch the scene. They smiled at each other before slinking off to their rooms.

Athena walked down the stairs, cleared her throat, startling the trio.

“So, what do we have here?"


End file.
